diff --git a/daemon/statistics.c b/daemon/statistics.c
index 19f8e7600..5716f401d 100644
--- a/daemon/statistics.c
+++ b/daemon/statistics.c
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 #include "control_ng.h"
 #include "bufferpool.h"
 
-struct timeval rtpe_started;
+int64_t rtpe_started;
 
 
 mutex_t rtpe_codec_stats_lock;
@@ -387,7 +387,7 @@ stats_metric_q *statistics_gather_metrics(struct interface_sampled_rate_stats *i
 	HEADER("totalstatistics", "Total statistics (does not include current running sessions):");
 	HEADER("{", "");
 
-	METRIC("uptime", "Uptime of rtpengine", "%" PRId64, "%" PRId64 " seconds", timeval_diff(timeval_from_us(rtpe_now), rtpe_started) / 1000000);
+	METRIC("uptime", "Uptime of rtpengine", "%" PRId64, "%" PRId64 " seconds", (rtpe_now - rtpe_started) / 1000000);
 	PROM("uptime_seconds", "gauge");
 
 	METRIC("managedsessions", "Total managed sessions", "%" PRIu64, "%" PRIu64, num_sessions);
@@ -948,7 +948,7 @@ static void codec_stats_free(struct codec_stats *stats_entry) {
 TYPED_GHASHTABLE_IMPL(codec_stats_ht, c_str_hash, c_str_equal, NULL, codec_stats_free)
 
 void statistics_init(void) {
-	gettimeofday(&rtpe_started, NULL);
+	rtpe_started = now_us();
 	rtpe_stats = bufferpool_alloc0(shm_bufferpool, sizeof(*rtpe_stats));
 
 	mutex_init(&rtpe_codec_stats_lock);
diff --git a/include/statistics.h b/include/statistics.h
index ceaaf5068..310ab8042 100644
--- a/include/statistics.h
+++ b/include/statistics.h
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ struct call_stats {
 	struct stream_stats	totals[4]; /* rtp in, rtcp in, rtp out, rtcp out */
 };
 
-extern struct timeval rtpe_started;
+extern int64_t rtpe_started;
 
 extern mutex_t rtpe_codec_stats_lock;
 extern codec_stats_ht rtpe_codec_stats;
diff --git a/t/test-stats.c b/t/test-stats.c
index 77458e43a..e83cea6c7 100644
--- a/t/test-stats.c
+++ b/t/test-stats.c
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ int main(void) {
 
 	// fake current time
 	rtpe_now = 150 * 1000000LL;
-	rtpe_started = (struct timeval) {80,0};
+	rtpe_started = 80 * 1000000LL;
 
 	// test cmd_time_min/max/avg